Collaboration is intended to increase identification of public access defibrillator locations and response readiness through Dynamic AED Registry.
Seattle, Washington – June 23, 2015 – The University of Washington Center for Pre-Hospital Emergency Care (CPEC) and MD Solutions International (MDSI), a leading provider of medical oversight and support for public access and corporate defibrillator programs, today announced an agreement to collaborate on the collection and entry of AED location and readiness data into the HeartMap Dynamic AED Registry. Under the agreement, MDSI will encourage its customers to register AED data with the Registry maintained by the Center for Pre-Hospital using a unique QR code and a smartphone.
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are small medical devices that are intended for use by lay persons to treat out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) before the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS) provider on scene. More than 2.4 million AEDs have been purchased for use in public and private locations across the United States. However, only a small portion of these devices are entered into a registry or tracking platform that monitors device status by location. The Dynamic AED Registry is funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and five AED manufacturers to follow the location and use of AEDs in public locations. “The Dynamic AED Registry assures that information about the location of devices is accessible, up to date and ready for use in the event of cardiac arrest,” said Dr. Graham Nichol, University of Washington professor of medicine at the University of Washington-Harborview Center for Pre-Hospital Emergency Care. “We also follow the outcome of any use of a registered device.”
Many cardiac arrests take place in close proximity to an AED location, but the device is not deployed because rescuers are unaware that an AED is nearby. Increasing the number of devices that are followed in the Dynamic AED Registry provides the opportunity to increase the likelihood that a device can be located and is ready to be used on a victim of cardiac arrest.
MDSI provides medical oversight and support for AED programs in the United States and internationally via a proprietary cloud-based tracking and program management system. Customers receive reminders to perform regular device inspections, notifications when battery and defibrillation pads are expired and support from a team of pre-hospital and hospital healthcare providers when an AED is used. “The work being done by the Center for Pre-Hospital Medicine is synergistic with the services we provide our AED customers. Working together will increase the number of AEDs that are accessible by the public to save a life.” said Dr. Ray Jarris, MDSI’s President and Chief Medical Officer. “Participation in the Registry is optional, but those customers that provide AED data will be contributing to the improvement of AED programs and survival from cardiac arrest.”
To learn more about the Center for Pre-Hospital Emergency Care and the Dynamic AED Registry visit www.cprnation.org. For information about MD Solutions and its oversight and support solutions visit www.mdsimedical.com.
About University of Washington Center for Pre-Hospital Emergency Care
The University of Washington established the Center for Prehospital Emergency Care at Harborview Medical Center (HMC) in 2004 to bring together its longstanding activities that provide excellent prehospital emergency care, train others to do the same, and discover future methods of further improving care for patients with acute life-threatening illness in the out-of-hospital setting. The Center has a broad portfolio of projects and programs focused on improving care for patient with acute life-threatening conditions in the field and early hospital setting.
About MD Solution Solutions International
Established in 1996 and based in Seattle, Washington, MD Solutions International (MDSI) provides physician based medical services and consulting to a variety of private and public organizations through an international network of physicians and other emergency care providers.
MDSI has extensive experience managing and providing services for AED programs. Through a partnership with a leading AED manufacturer that began in 1998 and continues today, Dr. Jarris was one of the first national providers of medical oversight for AED programs in the United States. Our partnerships also include major emergency care training organizations providing AED programs for corporations and several AED distribution organizations. Today, MDSI provides medical oversight for hundreds of AED programs and thousands of AEDs across the United States and internationally.
Contacts:
For MDSI: Craig Aman, 13075 Gateway Drive, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98168, (541) 521-7312, [email protected],
For CPEC: Graham Nichol MD, Box 359727, 325 Ninth Ave, Seattle, WA 98104, (206) 521-1722, n[email protected]